Paul Whybrow
Full Member
In writing my Cornish Detective novels, I try to make the plots as intriguing as possible by finding unusual ways of murdering someone. My novels contain a strong forensic element, so more weird facts titillate the reader, some mind-blowingly unbelievable.
*In Sin Killers, one of the murder suspects was born and raised in North Vietnam, the daughter of a witch, one who dispenses traditional medicine and poisonous concoctions. She inherits these skills and uses the poison that comes from several species of brightly coloured frogs, which is exuded from their skin to drug my protagonist detective. Traditionally, it's used by primitive tribes to coat their arrows or darts. It's estimated one frog contains enough poison to kill ten to fifteen adult humans, 10,000 mice or two adult African bull elephants!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/earth/story/20150422-the-worlds-most-poisonous-animal
* Also, in Sin Killers, the Vietnamese witch and her Cornish husband, who's a Druid, are found on arrest to have been eating their victims. Historically, this happened with Druids and the Vietcong in the Vietnam War. Various cuts of human meat are stored in the freezer, and their huge hellhound of a dog has been gnawing on a human tibia. To my detective's amazement, (and mine), he learns there are no laws on the British statute books against cannibalism. Killing people is illegal, but eating them isn't! He muses to himself, that it's no wonder The Walking Dead television series is so popular on television. It appeals to a primitive instinct: and no cooking is involved!
https://www.theguardian.com/law/sho...ing-people-is-wrong-but-is-it-against-the-law
Eating people is wrong, but is it against the law?
* In An Elegant Murder, the drowned body of an elderly woman is discovered floating in a flooded quarry. When autopsied, she's found to have been carrying the calcified body of a baby. These are correctly termed lithopedions but are commonly referred to as stone babies. A rare phenomenon, occurring in an ectopic or abdominal pregnancy outside the womb. The foetus dies, and as it's too big to be reabsorbed by the body it calcifies, protecting the mother from infection.
It can go undetected for decades and is only noticed when an X-ray is taken. The mother is often unaware of the dead baby, attributing any discomfort and pouchiness to ageing. Up to menopause, she'd have menstruated as usual. The world record for carrying a stone baby is 65 years, by a Chinese lady who sensed something was wrong, but couldn't afford to pay a doctor.
https://www.weirdasianews.com/2009/05/02/weirder-weird-chinese-stone-pregnancy/
*In The Perfect Murderer, a serial killer is taking victims as part of an ancient roleplay game, that's organised online these days. He's a master of camouflage, having served as a sniper in the Bosnian War of Independence, and he's also skilled at disguising his appearance with makeup, wigs and facial and body prostheses to mimic disabled war veterans. To trace where he's been hiding in the countryside, the police call in a bloodhound.
Their powers of smell are truly amazing. A normal breed of dog typically has a sense of smell that's 100 thousand times more sensitive than a human, but a bloodhound's is estimated to be 100 million times superior. They're skilled at following very aged scents—the record is over 330 hours—a scent trail almost two weeks old.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/underdogs-the-bloodhounds-amazing-sense-of-smell/350/
What startling facts have you discovered when researching your stories?
*In Sin Killers, one of the murder suspects was born and raised in North Vietnam, the daughter of a witch, one who dispenses traditional medicine and poisonous concoctions. She inherits these skills and uses the poison that comes from several species of brightly coloured frogs, which is exuded from their skin to drug my protagonist detective. Traditionally, it's used by primitive tribes to coat their arrows or darts. It's estimated one frog contains enough poison to kill ten to fifteen adult humans, 10,000 mice or two adult African bull elephants!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/earth/story/20150422-the-worlds-most-poisonous-animal
* Also, in Sin Killers, the Vietnamese witch and her Cornish husband, who's a Druid, are found on arrest to have been eating their victims. Historically, this happened with Druids and the Vietcong in the Vietnam War. Various cuts of human meat are stored in the freezer, and their huge hellhound of a dog has been gnawing on a human tibia. To my detective's amazement, (and mine), he learns there are no laws on the British statute books against cannibalism. Killing people is illegal, but eating them isn't! He muses to himself, that it's no wonder The Walking Dead television series is so popular on television. It appeals to a primitive instinct: and no cooking is involved!
https://www.theguardian.com/law/sho...ing-people-is-wrong-but-is-it-against-the-law
Eating people is wrong, but is it against the law?
* In An Elegant Murder, the drowned body of an elderly woman is discovered floating in a flooded quarry. When autopsied, she's found to have been carrying the calcified body of a baby. These are correctly termed lithopedions but are commonly referred to as stone babies. A rare phenomenon, occurring in an ectopic or abdominal pregnancy outside the womb. The foetus dies, and as it's too big to be reabsorbed by the body it calcifies, protecting the mother from infection.
It can go undetected for decades and is only noticed when an X-ray is taken. The mother is often unaware of the dead baby, attributing any discomfort and pouchiness to ageing. Up to menopause, she'd have menstruated as usual. The world record for carrying a stone baby is 65 years, by a Chinese lady who sensed something was wrong, but couldn't afford to pay a doctor.
https://www.weirdasianews.com/2009/05/02/weirder-weird-chinese-stone-pregnancy/
*In The Perfect Murderer, a serial killer is taking victims as part of an ancient roleplay game, that's organised online these days. He's a master of camouflage, having served as a sniper in the Bosnian War of Independence, and he's also skilled at disguising his appearance with makeup, wigs and facial and body prostheses to mimic disabled war veterans. To trace where he's been hiding in the countryside, the police call in a bloodhound.
Their powers of smell are truly amazing. A normal breed of dog typically has a sense of smell that's 100 thousand times more sensitive than a human, but a bloodhound's is estimated to be 100 million times superior. They're skilled at following very aged scents—the record is over 330 hours—a scent trail almost two weeks old.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/underdogs-the-bloodhounds-amazing-sense-of-smell/350/
What startling facts have you discovered when researching your stories?
